The first direct talks between Moscow and Kiev in over three years have reportedly concluded at the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul.
The peace talks were initially planned to take place on Thursday. However, Vladimir Zelensky only named a Ukrainian delegation that evening, having spoken with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.
Kiev’s representatives eventually arrived in Istanbul on Thursday night and talks were rescheduled for Friday.
The Russian delegation was led by presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky, who headed Moscow’s negotiating team at the failed 2022 Istanbul talks. The Ukrainian delegation was headed by Kiev’s defense minister, Rustem Umerov.
The talks follow a surprise invitation last Sunday from Russian President Vladimir Putin for unconditional talks on resolving the long-term root causes of the Ukraine conflict.
Zelensky, who had previously ruled out any talks with Moscow, only agreed to attend following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of his support for the talks, and his claim that Kiev should accept it “immediately.”
Putin’s spokesman announced on Thursday that the Russian president would not attend the talks, prompting the Ukrainian delegation to complain about the status of the Russian team.
Kiev unilaterally withdrew from the 2022 Istanbul talks. President Putin later blamed Western interference and, in particular, then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who had reportedly urged Kiev to “just continue fighting,” for derailing the peace process.
Russia, which had withdrawn its forces from the outskirts of Kiev as a goodwill gesture, later accused Ukraine of backtracking, saying it had lost trust in Ukraine’s negotiators.
16 May 2025
The stream has ended.
The Istanbul talks have allowed Moscow and Kiev to restore direct dialogue, disrupted in 2022, according to political scientist Vladimir Shapovalov, who welcomed the development as the most significant outcome of the meeting. He still cautioned against high expectations from the negotiating process by stating that Kiev’s position is “changing too rapidly” and is “too dependent” on external factors.
The Istanbul talks are “a step towards peacefully settling” the Ukraine conflict and “saving thousands of lives,” Leonid Slutsky, the head of the Russian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, has said.
While the MP warned it would be “naïve” to expect an “immediate breakthrough,” he still hailed the agreement on a POW exchange as “a significant outcome.” Slutsky also blasted Kiev’s Western backers for claiming Moscow’s delegation wasn’t high-level enough and calling for more pressure to be put on Russia.
“Reaction to the Istanbul meeting clearly shows who is really for peace and who’s in the thrall of their own… ambitions,” he said.
Western media reacts to Russia-Ukraine talks:
The New York Times: “The Istanbul negotiations were not expected – even by President Trump, who initially supported them – to yield any huge breakthroughs.
But the meeting itself marked a tactical win for Mr. Putin, who managed to start the talks without first agreeing to a battlefield cease-fire that Ukraine and almost all of its Western backers had sought as a precondition for negotiations.”
The Times, citing Samuel Charap, a senior political scientist at the US-based Rand think tank: “The largest single PoW exchange and an agreement to keep talking about ceasefire modalities – I would consider that ‘better than expected’ as an outcome for the first direct talks in three years.”
The Guardian: “While the meeting appeared to achieve little toward ending the conflict, it represents a symbolic win for Putin, who refused to accept the 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine and its European allies had demanded as a prerequisite for talks.”
CNN: “It was more positive than expected. They didn’t use accusatory language,” a Turkish official told CNN hours after the discussions wrapped up in Istanbul.
A member of the Ukrainian delegation claimed Moscow is planning to attack Poland in 2030 during peace talks, a source present at the Istanbul negotiations has told RT.
The Russian side reportedly burst into laughter at the Ukrainian delegate’s claim, with Vladimir Putin’s aide, Vladimir Medinsky, saying: “Let’s not turn these negotiations into a fantasy novel,” RT’s source says.
The Russian delegation, led by the president’s aide, Vladimir Medinsky, has just left Istanbul for Moscow after talks with the Ukrainian side, according to RT sources.
The West’s interference in other nations’ affairs, including those of Russia, has already had grave consequences for all of Europe in the past, Vladimir Medinsky, Russia’s top negotiator at the Istanbul talks and a professional historian, has said.
Speaking to Rossiya 1, he pointed to the 19th-century Berlin Congress convened by a coalition of Western nations, including the UK, France, Italy, and Germany, to revise the results of a Russian-Turkish peace treaty that had led to the liberation of a number of Balkan nations from Ottoman control. The coalition deemed it too favorable for Russia.
As a result, the borders of the newly liberated states were redrawn, Medinsky said, adding that the move led to a series of Balkan wars in the early 20th century and ultimately to World War I.
The Ukraine conflict could have ended in weeks if Kiev had stuck to the arrangements it reached with Moscow in the first rounds of peace talks, which were held in the Belarusian city of Gomel in late February 2022, Russia’s top negotiator at the Istanbul talks, Vladimir Medinsky, said.
”They dragged their feet,” he told Rossiya 1, adding that Kiev’s actions led to a less favorable deal with Moscow in the next round of talks in Istanbul in the spring of 2022. “The Istanbul process was also regrettably disrupted because of the West’s direct involvement,” he stated, pointing to then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s visit to Kiev in May 2022.
Kiev’s repeated demands for a ceasefire before any peace talks have taken place are excessive, Vladimir Medinsky, Russia’s top negotiator at the Istanbul talks, believes.
Speaking to Rossiya 1, Medinsky, a professional historian, maintained that peace negotiations were usually conducted as the warring parties were still fighting. “A war and talks are being conducted simultaneously,” he said, adding that only “people who know nothing about history” could claim that a ceasefire has always preceded peace talks.
Kiev will start preparing a POW list for the upcoming exchange on Friday, Vadim Skibitsky, the deputy head of the Ukrainian military intelligence and a member of the nation’s delegation at the Istanbul talks has told journalists.
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has said he has spoken to US President Donald Trump as well as French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk following the Istanbul talks.
Kiev is ready to take the “fastest possible” track to peace, Zelensky claimed, as he called for more sanctions against Moscow if it refuses “a complete and unconditional ceasefire.”
The Kremlin “does not rule out” that Russian President Vladimir Putin can have an “international phone call” on Friday night, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has told journalists. He did not reveal who Putin intended to talk to.
US President Donald Trump has said he could call his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in the wake of the Istanbul talks between Moscow and Kiev. “I may,” he said on board Air Force One, when asked whether he would talk to the Russian president by phone. Trump has also said that he and Putin “have to meet,” adding that such a meeting could contribute to a resolution of the Ukraine conflict.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who led Kiev’s delegation at the Istanbul talks, has said that the negotiations were focused on ceasefire options and a prisoner exchange. He has also claimed that the sides are working on a potential new meeting that could involve Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky.
The Russian and Ukrainian delegations have agreed that talks will resume after both sides present their vision of a possible ceasefire, Vladimir Medinsky has told journalists.
“We are ready to continue contacts,” the head of the Russian negotiating team stressed.
The Russian side is “satisfied” with the talks in Istanbul, the head of the delegation, Vladimir Medinsky has told journalists.
He confirmed that the two countries have agreed a POW exchange involving 1,000 prisoners from each side.
The Russian team also took notice of Kiev’s request for a face-to-face meeting between Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky, Medinsky added.
A senior Ukrainian official has told AFP that it is “possible” that another round of talks between Russia and Ukraine could take place in Istanbul on Friday. “It is possible that something will happen today,” the source added, but noted that “so far it is not planned.”
Ukraine’s demands for a higher-level Russian delegation are hard to understand, former Turkish diplomat Gulru Gezer has told RT, stressing that it’s not how negotiations work, or have ever worked in the history of diplomacy.
”I fail to understand why Ukraine is demanding higher level delegation. It’s very basic. The 101 of negotiations is that they start at a technical level. You find common ground, certain concessions are made. Then you can take it to the next level, maybe the ministerial level,” Gezer explained.
”Leaders only meet to sign an agreement. You never see it going vice versa because there is no meaning of leaders coming together and shaking hands while there are so many unresolved issues while the war is still continuing,” the former diplomat said.
The direct talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations have concluded at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul after less than two hours, a source has confirmed to RT.
Pope Leo has offered the Vatican as a venue for future negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, the Vatican’s secretary of state, Pietro Parolin, has said.
This morning, the Pope voiced “plans to make the Vatican, the Holy See, available for a direct meeting between the two sides,” Parolin said in a statement.
The talks between the delegations from Moscow and Kiev are being carried out in Russian, a source has told RT’s correspondent Kostya Prydybalo. The Ukrainian team has brought an interpreter to the meeting, but his services are not being used, the source said.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov outlined Kiev’s priorities before the talks in Istanbul began, including a 30-day ceasefire, an exchange of all POWs, and the “return of forcefully deported Ukrainian children.”
Kiev had initially demanded an unconditional truce as a precondition for talks, before softening its position. Moscow has described the ceasefire demand as a likely ruse for Ukraine to regroup its forces.
Prisoner exchanges between the sides are regularly conducted on an equal basis. The number of Ukrainian POWs in Moscow’s custody is reportedly significantly higher than the number of Russian troops held by Kiev.
The issue of children mentioned by Umerov apparently refers to Kiev’s claims that the Russian government “abducted” Ukrainian minors. Moscow insists that Ukraine is mischaracterizing the evacuation of vulnerable people from war-affected areas. Efforts to ensure the reunification of separated families is being conducted by the two nations’ humanitarian offices.
A meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump is “necessary” for both bilateral Russia-US relations and the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, but thorough preparations would be needed for it to take place, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
"Obviously, contacts between Presidents Putin and Trump are extremely important in the context of the Ukrainian settlement. Of course, we agree with this point. Their significance is difficult to overestimate,” he said.
However, Peskov noted that such a meeting “must be productive,” which would require “expert talks, consultations, long and intense preparations.”
Trump said earlier that face-to-face negotiations between Putin and him is the only way to stop the fighting between Moscow and Kiev.
In his remarks at the start of the meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan described the current stage in the settlement of the Ukraine conflict as “critical.” It is up to the two sides to decide for themselves whether to agree peace or to “continue the destructive conflict,” he said.
After a short speech by Fidan, the cameras were switched off, with the talks continuing behind closed doors.
Talks between the Russian, Ukrainian, and Turkish delegations have started at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul, with RT’s broadcast showing the teams from Moscow, Kiev, and Ankara sitting behind the negotiating table.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is meeting with representatives from the UK, France, and Germany in Istanbul, Reuters has reported. Ukraine and Iran are on the agenda for discussions, it added.
There is “panic” in Kiev due to the direct negotiations with Russia in Istanbul, Der Spiegel has reported. It is only “growing because no one knows what is happening,” an adviser to Vladimir Zelensky's office told the German magazine.
According to the article, the Ukrainian leader is also upset by the fact that he constantly being forced to adapt to US President Donald Trump, who, unlike his predecessor Joe Biden, does not share Ukraine’s stance.
The Russian delegation in Istanbul remains in constant contact with Vladimir Putin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
The team has all the necessary guidelines regarding Russia’s negotiating position, which were developed at a meeting with Putin and other top officials earlier this week, he stressed.
The Russian delegation has arrived at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul for direct talks with Ukrainian representatives, RT's Igor Zhdanov has reported from the scene.
The Ukrainian delegation plans to discuss the possibility of holding a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky during the talks with the Russian team in Istanbul, sources have told Reuters.
Kiev also considers the issue of a ceasefire to be a priority during the negotiations, according to the news agency’s sources.
The talks between the Ukrainian, Turkish, and US delegations have concluded at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul, a source within the Turkish Foreign Ministry has told TASS.
The US delegation at the trilateral meeting with Ukraine and Türkiye in Istanbul includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Donald Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg, and US ambassador to Türkiye Thomas Barrack.
The Ukrainian team is made up of the head of Vladimir Zelensky's office, Andrey Yermak, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, and Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga.
Host nation Türkiye is represented by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, deputy FM Berris Ekinci, and intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin.
The talks between the Ukrainian, Turkish, and US delegations have started at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has said.
The Ukrainian, Turkish, and US delegations have arrived at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul, a TASS correspondent has reported from the scene.
According to Anadolu news agency, the representatives of Ankara, Kiev, and Washington will hold a meeting at 10:45am (07:45am GMT), followed by talks between teams from Russia, Ukraine, and Türkiye at 12:30pm Moscow time (9:30am GMT).
The US State Department’s director of policy planning, Michael Anton, will represent Washington at the meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul, Reuters has reported, citing a State Department spokesperson.
Anton was a member of the US team during talks between Russian and American representatives in Saudi Arabia in late March.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has landed in Istanbul, where direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations are scheduled to take place later in the day, AFP has reported.
Rubio, who is not expected to join the negotiations, earlier said that he and fellow US officials would hold meetings with Russian and Ukrainian representatives during the morning. According to CNN Turk, the top US diplomat will speak with the Ukrainian and Turkish foreign ministers.
High-ranking Russian diplomat Rodion Miroshnik has said he is concerned by Kiev’s claims that its delegation is only planning to discuss a 30-day ceasefire during the talks with Moscow’s team in Istanbul.
"A ceasefire regime that is not included in the program for the long-term settlement [of the conflict] will naturally not satisfy the Russian side," he explained.
According to Miroshnik, who is the Russian Foreign Ministry’s ambassador-at-large tasked with documenting Kiev’s alleged war crimes, Ukraine would use the truce to regroup and rearm its forces and build new fortifications. “This would be moving not towards peace, but in the opposite direction,” he stressed.
Trilateral talks between representatives of Russia, Ukraine and Türkiye are scheduled to begin at 12:30pm Moscow time (9:30am GMT) at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul, a source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry has told RIA Novosti.
They will be preceded by a meeting between delegations from Ankara, Kiev and Washington, according to the source.
Russian Senator Aleksey Pushkov has concurred with US political scientist John Mearsheimer’s assessment that Ukraine and its Western European backers do not actually want peace as they still hope that they can exhaust Russia and make it surrender.
"The calculations of Paris, London and Berlin are not based on the analysis of reality and the results of three years of conflict, but on wishful thinking and arrogance,” he wrote in a post on Telegram.
Pushkov reminded that the economies of Germany, UK and France have suffered immensely since they imposed sanctions on Moscow and disconnected themselves from Russian gas deliveries.
"I agree with Mearsheimer: this is extremely stupid, but, as we can see, this does not mean that the Europeans are ready to abandon this policy,” the senator stressed.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for not showing up in Istanbul for talks with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky.
“The only person currently in the wrong for not showing up is Putin,” Merz told broadcaster ZDF. The Kremlin confirmed earlier that Putin had no plans to travel to Türkiye.
In 2022, Zelensky signed a decree declaring the “impossibility” of negotiating with Putin. However, he later clarified that the decree does not actually ban him from speaking with the Russian leader and said he was ready to meet Putin in Istanbul.
High-ranking Russian Senator Konstantin Kosachev said that the composition of the Russian delegation signals “continuity and consistency” with the terms Moscow presented to Ukraine during the 2022 talks, which were later abandoned by Kiev.
Russia will adjust its position to reflect “the new realities on the ground,” he wrote on Telegram.
Kosachev added that the talks could succeed if Ukraine engages without the “propaganda buzz” and focuses on achieving results.
Janis Sarts, the director of the Riga-based NATO Strategic Communications Center of Excellence (StratCom), said that Russian President Vladimir Putin would only settle for the “capitulation” of Ukraine.
“I remain convinced that the fate of peace in Ukraine will be decided primarily on the battlefield, not at the negotiating table,” Sarts told the Ukrainian news website Gordonua.com.
15 May 2025
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied reports that Washington opposed Vladimir Zelensky’s participation in the NATO summit in The Hague next month.
“No, I don’t know where that’s coming from,” he told reporters during a trip to Türkiye. “Many leaders who are not members of NATO are invited to NATO conferences – they’re not at the leaders’ meeting, but they’re invited to conferences.”
Multiple European news outlets reported that President Donald Trump did not want to fully dedicate the summit to Ukraine.
The Russian delegation will be waiting for the Ukrainian side to meet starting at 10 a.m. on Friday, Russia’s chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, told journalists.
“We had a very close meeting with the world leaders. They explained our position. Tomorrow morning, we will be waiting for the Ukrainian side, which should arrive at the meeting,” Medinsky said.
Russia’s presidential aide also reminded that it was Vladimir Putin who suggested restarting direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul “without preconditions.”
“We are ready to talk,” Medinsky added.
US President Donald Trump has dodged a question on whether he plans to travel to Istanbul for Russia-Ukraine talks.
“We’re leaving tomorrow, but you know, destination’s unknown. We could be here, we could be there. But we’re probably going back to Washington, DC, tomorrow,” he told journalists in Abu Dhabi after meeting with Emirati President Mohammed Bin Zayed.
The US and Türkiye want the Russia-Ukraine negotiations to happen, but Europe doesn’t, political expert Sergey Mikheev has told RT.
”Europe does not want it, first and foremost, the British. They do not want it because they need some conditions for their participation in this very process,” Mikheev said.
”Ultimately, many things will depend on whether contacts between Moscow and Washington, which are, of course, taking place behind the scenes, will work out.”
He also claimed Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky was failing to take control of the situation while the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had seized the initiative by scheduling negotiations for May 15.
”The delegation headed by [the Russian president’s aide, Vladimir] Medinsky refers to the history of 2022. Russia appointed Medinsky to this position, but for Zelensky, this is a little humiliating. So he is trying to get out of it, he is babbling about everything just to be quoted,” Mikheev claimed.
No decisions have been made yet concerning negotiations between Russian, US, Turkish, and Ukrainian representatives in Istanbul, the Turkish Foreign Ministry has claimed.
However, according to the Anadolu sources, the teams are set to meet on Friday.
Vladimir Zelensky’s office has announced the delegation for the Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul. The team will be led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and will include 11 other delegates. This group features Aleksandr Poklad, the Deputy Head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), as well as Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN and Deputy Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Other members include Deputy Heads from the General Staff, the Foreign Intelligence Service, the Main Intelligence Directorate, and various branches of the military.
A meeting between Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and the Russian delegation has begun in the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul, according to RIA Novosti sources.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said a decision on whether Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will meet depends on the results of discussions between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations.
”I think it’s abundantly clear that the only way we’re going to have a breakthrough here is between President Trump and President Putin.”
He added that he didn’t think “anything productive is actually going to happen from this point forward,” until the US and Russian leaders engage in a “very frank and direct conversation.”
Rubio added that Trump is “willing” to have talks and is “impatient” to end the conflict.
The Russian delegation are in the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul, according to an Interfax source. It is not yet clear whether the negotiations are going to begin now.
However, TASS sources claim there will be no talks on Thursday “due to logistics,” but contacts between Russia and Türkiye “are possible.”
Vladimir Zelensky has concluded his visit to Türkiye and is now heading to Albania, according to Ukrainian media.
The Ukrainian delegation will arrive in Istanbul late on Thursday, according to Vladimir Zelensky’s aide, Dmitry Litvin.
Talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations will start on Friday, TASS has reported, citing a source close to the organization of the event.
The Ukrainian delegation has departed from Ankara for Istanbul, Vladimir Zelensky has told journalists in the Turkish capital. No fixed timetable for a prospective meeting with Russia's delegation has been set, he stated. Russia, he claimed, is “not serious” enough about negotiations, citing President Vladimir Putin’s absence from the talks.
Zelensky called for more sactions on Russia. “You saw that [US] president [Donald] Trump thought it would help to press, adding that Kiev has “a lot of pre-conditions” for Russia and only agreed to the talks because of Washington’s position that Ukraine has decided to go along with.
Vladimir Zelensky is trying to make peace talks with Russia conditional upon more military aid from Kiev’s Western backers, former Ukrainian diplomat Andrey Telizhenko has told RT. The Ukrainian leader is now “negotiating with London and Paris” in a bid to get “more weapons… money and … boots on the ground,” he said, citing sources within the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. In exchange, Zelensky could “agree and move forward with [the] negotiations” or “sabotage them” right away, according to Telizhenko.
The Russian team has left the Russian consulate where it spent the evening. It is headed out to the presidential office located in the Dolmabahce Palace where the talks between the two delegations are expected to commence, possibly tonight, probably tomorrow.
The goal of the talks is to secure “a lasting peace,” the Russian president’s aide, Vladimir Medinsky, who is leading the Russian delegation in Istanbul, has told journalists. “We see these talks as the continuation of the Istanbul peace process that was disrupted by the Ukrainian side three years ago,” he said.
The Russian team’s agenda and position were defined by President Vladimir Putin following a special National Security Council meeting that involved Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, as well as top intelligence and security officials, and top-level military commanders involved in the Russian military campaign against Kiev, he added.
Zelensky stated that he refuses to recognize Russia’s new territories as part of the Russian Federation. “Crimea is Ukraine. Crimea is a Ukrainian peninsula,” he said following talks with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has confirmed that he will be sending a delegation to the talks with Russia in Istanbul, adding that he had decided to do so out of respect for US President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Ukrainian team, which will be headed by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, is planning to discuss a ceasefire during the talks with the Russian side, he said.
Kiev’s negotiators will remain in Istanbul on Friday as the negotiations could well go into the second day, Zelensky added.
Moscow is ready to discuss “possible compromises” during direct talks with Kiev, the head of the Russian delegation and presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, has said.
The Russian team is prepared to resume the negotiating process with Ukraine and remains “in a good working mood,” Medinsky told journalists.
Vladimir Zelensky has decided to send a delegation to the talks with the Russian team in Istanbul, AFP has reported, citing unnamed senior Ukrainian official. According to the agency, the Ukrainian leader will not take part in the negotiations himself.
Donald Trump has said he is “not disappointed” with the level of the delegation sent by Russia for the talks in Istanbul. Vladimir Zelensky had earlier claimed it was insufficient.
"Why would I be disappointed? We just took in $4 trillion and he says ‘are you disappointed about a delegation?’,” Trump replied when asked about the issue, referring to deals announced during his tour of the Middle East.
“Look, nothing is going to happen until Putin and I get together. Okay?” the US president added.
Moscow’s delegation for the talks in Türkiye comprises presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Defense Minister Aleksandr Fomin, and the head of Russia’s military intelligence, Igor Kostyukov.
Turkish broadcaster TRT Haber has claimed that talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations have started in Istanbul. However, according to RT’s information, the report is inaccurate and the two sides have yet to begin negotiations.
A Ukrainian diplomatic source has told Reuters that Kiev is still considering whether to send a delegation to speak with the Russian team that arrived in Istanbul earlier in the day.
The Ukrainian side could engage if it believes Moscow’s delegation is willing to have a “serious conversation,” the source said. But if Kiev decides that it is not the case, “we will have the right to conclude that this is a Russian charade, not meaningful work for peace,” the source added.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has responded to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who claimed earlier in the day that “the ball is now on the Russian side” when it comes to stopping the fighting in the Ukraine conflict.
“We have not only the ball, but also the truth on our side. The problem is that no matter how much the NATO hooligans shout from the bench in order to score a goal we need the Ukrainian team on the pitch,” Zakharova said, referring to Kiev’s reluctance to confirm the participation of its delegation in direct talks with Moscow in Istanbul.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has declined to say if Vladimir Putin would be taking part in the direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Türkiye at a later stage. Moscow already has a team of negotiators who have been selected by the Russian president, he reminded journalists.
“It is too early to talk now about what additional participation and at what level will be required in the future. Because we do not know if the Ukrainian negotiators will show up or not and how the negotiations will progress. The Russian delegation is ready and it is waiting in Istanbul,” Peskov stressed.
No preparations are currently underway for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump to meet in Istanbul in the coming days, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. “This issue has not been raised. We have nothing to say on this at the moment,” he stressed.
Trump claimed earlier that he could travel to Türkiye where direct talks between Russia and Ukraine are expected to take place, but only if Putin also comes.
The head of the Russian delegation, presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, said in a Telegram post that he has “arrived in Istanbul on the instructions of the president as promised on May 15.” Moscow’s negotiators are “ready for serious professional work,” he stressed.
“The meaning of the direct negotiations proposed by Vladimir Putin is to establish a long-term and lasting peace by eliminating the root causes of the conflict,” he added.
The meeting between Russia and Ukraine has not been canceled and is expected to start in two or three hours, a source has told TASS. RIA-Novosti also reported that the talks could begin in around three hours.
Zelensky said earlier that he would make a decision on negotiating with Moscow after his discussions with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. According to Anadolu news agency, a meeting between Erdogan and Zelensky is currently underway in Ankara.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has blasted Vladimir Zelensky as a “pathetic person,” calling it clear to everyone except for the Ukrainian leader himself and his “puppet masters.”
He added that Zelensky, who initially demanded Putin come to Istanbul and talk to him personally, instantly changed his tune after his “superiors explained to him that one should not behave so stupidly and that negotiations are needed.”
The Guardian has reported that the heads of the Ukrainian delegation are not even in Istanbul where the talks with Russia are expected to take place, and are likely to remain in Ankara until Zelensky has spoken with Erdogan.
Vladimir Zelensky has arrived in Ankara, where he is expected to hold a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
After leaving the plane, the Ukrainian leader claimed that the seniority of the delegation sent by Moscow to the talks with Kiev in Istanbul was insufficient.
Russia will be represented at the meeting by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Defense Minister Aleksandr Fomin and and the head of Russia’s military intelligence Igor Kostyukov.
Medinsky headed Moscow’s delegation during the previous direct talks with Kiev in Istanbul in April 2022, while the presence of Kostyukov makes the lineup of the Russian negotiators even more high-ranking that three years ago. However, the country’s top officials, including President Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, will be staying out of the meeting.
Zelensky said that he will make further decisions on negotiating with Russia after his discussions with Erdogan. He also added that Kiev remains in constant contact with Washington regarding the peace process.
Vladimir Putin will not attend the direct talks between Moscow and Kiev in Istanbul this week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
When asked by journalists if there was a chance of the Russian president traveling to Türkiye, Peskov gave a short answer, saying: “no.”
The start of direct talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations has been rescheduled for the second half of the day at the initiative of the Turkish side, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said. Initial media reports suggested that the negotiations could begin at 10am local time in Istanbul (7am GMT).
UK national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, is expected to travel to Türkiye to provide background advice to Zelensky, the Guardian has reported.
The outlet described the possible negotiations in Istanbul as “an unpredictable meeting in an unclear format.”
Powell’s advice to Zelensky would be not to do anything that alienates Donald Trump, but encourage the US president to realize that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is an obstacle to peace, according to the British publication.
In a piece for the online newspaper Gazeta.ru, and translated and edited by the RT team, Russian journalist and political analyst Vitaly Ryumshin has taken a pessimistic view of the upcoming talks. According to Ryumshin, two main issues will hinder significant progress being made: the conditions for real peace talks simply don’t exist, and the poor track record of previous efforts.
Read the full article here.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has confirmed that the Russian delegation has arrived in Istanbul. This corroborates earlier reports from an RT correspondent and a TASS source.
Moscow's negotiators are “ready for serious work,” Zakharova said during a briefing.
US President Donald Trump has said he could still travel to Türkiye if progress is made during direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
"You know, if something happened, I would go on Friday,” the US president told journalists in Qatar.
Russian President Vladimir Putin led a high-profile meeting on Wednesday evening as part of preparations for direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul, Kremlin press-secretary Dmitry Peskov has said.
Besides the members of the Russian delegation – presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Defense Minister Aleksandr Fomin and and the head of Russia’s military intelligence, Igor Kostyukov – the meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, head of the Federal Security Service (FSB) Aleksandr Bortnikov, chief of the Russian National Guard Viktor Zolotov and Secretary of the Security Council Sergey Shoigu, according to the spokesman.
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky plans to hold a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara later in the day, and only after that decide what steps to take regarding talks with Russia, an unnamed senior official has told AFP.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said President Donald Trump is open to any mechanism that would result in a just peace in the Ukraine conflict, Reuters has reported.
Washington expects to see progress made during the talks between Russia and Ukraine in the next couple of days, Rubio, who was speaking ahead of an informal meeting of foreign ministers in Türkiye, stressed.
Journalist have begun gathering outside Dolmabahce Palace, where the meeting between the delegations from Moscow and Kiev is expected to take place, RT’s correspondent Kostya Pridybailo reports from the scene.
The Russian delegation has arrived in Istanbul for direct negotiations with Ukraine, RIA Novosti reports, citing a source.
According to the news agency, the meeting will take at Dolmabahce Palace in the central part of the city.
The direct talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations are scheduled to begin in Istanbul at 10am Moscow time (7am GMT), according to a source cited by TASS.
The meeting in Istanbul has derailed EU efforts to convince the US to impose new sanctions on Russia, The Washington Post reported, citing European, Ukrainian, and American officials.
On Wednesday, the EU agreed on a 17th round of restrictions, which is expected to be formally approved next week. The UK, France, and Germany have previously called for a 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
As in 2022, the negotiations will take place in the office of the Turkish president, the Russian news agency RIA reported.
RT correspondent Konstantin Pridybaylo wrote on Telegram that the Russian delegation has arrived in Istanbul.
The newspaper Izvestia reported earlier that security in the city had been increased, with patrol vehicles and armored police cars stationed on the streets.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski argued that the negotiations will be “a test” of whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is “sincere” in his pursuit of peace.
“It seems to me that if Russia does not agree to a ceasefire on Thursday or engage in genuine negotiations, President Trump will have every reason to reconsider his policy,” Sikorski told the news agencies PAP and Radio ZET. He urged the US president to put pressure on Moscow if no agreement is reached.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga said that he met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham in Antalya, Türkiye. The sides “discussed in detail the logic of further steps and shared our approaches” to negotiations with Russia, he said.
“It is critical that Russia reciprocate Ukraine’s constructive steps. So far, it has not. Moscow must understand that rejecting peace comes at a cost,” Sibiga wrote on X.
Russia has previously stated that “the root causes” of the conflict must be addressed before a comprehensive ceasefire can be reached.
The Washington Post cited unnamed diplomats as saying that Vladimir Zelensky had been “on the verge of canceling” Ukraine’s participation in the negotiations until US and European officials persuaded him otherwise.
“Zelensky didn’t see the point in going at all,” one diplomat was quoted as saying. According to the report, Western officials convinced Zelensky to send a delegation composed of senior aides.
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Presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who was designated to lead Russia’s negotiators in Istanbul, served as a member of the State Duma from 2004 to 2011 and as Minister of Culture from 2012 to 2020.
He is the chairman of the Russian Military Historical Society, an organization tasked with studying and promoting the country’s role in various conflicts, including World War I and World War II, as well as commissioning war memorials. Medinsky has authored a series of books aimed at exploring and debunking what he describes as negative “myths” about Russian history.
In December, Medinsky insisted that Ukraine had a real opportunity to reach a peace deal in the spring of 2022 but abruptly “discarded all agreements” and withdrew from the talks.
US President Donald Trump has no plans to travel to Istanbul to join the proposed talk between Russia and Ukraine, two anonymous White House officials told CNN. Trump had previously hinted at the possibility of joining the talk, but made no commitments on the matter, citing his extremely tight schedule.
Kiev has expressed its disappointment with the composition of the Russian delegation, with Zelensky’s aide Mikhail Podoliak claiming the chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, was not the right figure to discuss unspecified “fundamental issues.”
“No, of course not, that’s not the format. The President can’t meet, especially with Medinsky - the status won’t be entirely clear,” Podoliak told Ukrainian media.
President Vladimir Putin has signed an executive order nominating senior Russian officials for upcoming peace negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul.
Delegation Members
The delegation will be led by:
• Vladimir Medinsky – Presidential Aide (Head of Delegation)
• Mikhail Galuzin – Deputy Foreign Minister
• Igor Kostyukov – Chief of the General Staff’s Main Directorate
• Alexander Fomin – Deputy Defense Minister
Supporting Experts
The delegation will also include:
• Andrey Zorin (General Staff, Information Directorate)
• Ekaterina Podobreveskaya (Presidential Office, Humanitarian Policy)
• Alexander Polishchuk (Foreign Ministry, CIS Affairs)
• Vladimir Shevtsov (Defense Ministry, International Military Cooperation)
The composition mirrors Russia’s 2022 negotiation team.
According to Ukrainian media reports, Vladimir Zelensky, his head of office Andrey Yermak, and his defense and foreign ministers are expected to travel to Istanbul. However, the exact composition of Kiev’s negotiating team is likely to be determined by Zelensky on the spot on Thursday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on phone with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva when the latter briefly stopped in Moscow, the Kremlin press service has said. Earlier in the day, the Brazilian leader pledged during a press conference in Beijing to ask Putin to participate in the Istanbul talks personally.
“Vladimir Putin expressed gratitude to the leadership of Brazil and China for their sincere desire to make a constructive contribution to finding ways to resolve the [Ukraine] conflict,” the Kremlin press service said.
Zelensky has stated that Kiev is open to “any format of negotiations” to bring an end to the war with Russia.
He added that Ukraine’s next steps will depend on who represents Russia in the upcoming talks.
US President Donald Trump has apparently downplayed the chance that he will travel to Istanbul on Thursday for the Ukraine talks, claiming that his schedule did not allow for it. Earlier this week, Trump floated the possibility of joining the negotiations in person.
“Now tomorrow we’re all booked out, you understand that, we’re all set,” Trump told reporters on board Air Force One while en route to Qatar.
Kiev remains insistent on the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Istanbul talks, senior aide to Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, Mikhail Podoliak, has signaled.
“If there’s no Putin, there are certainly no negotiations. [Zelensky] will make the decision, whether there will be any talks. But then [these negotiations] will definitely not be at [his] level,” he stated.
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff has confirmed he will travel to Istanbul on Friday alongside US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to participate in discussions on the Ukraine conflict. Witkoff made the remarks while speaking to reporters in Doha, Qatar.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will not be present at the Istanbul talks, Kommersant newspaper has reported, citing sources. Earlier, The Washington Post claimed the Russian delegation will be led by Lavrov and presidential aide Yuri Ushakov. Thus far, Moscow has not officially revealed who exactly will represent it at the talks.
Unnamed Turkish officials have told Bloomberg that they are not expecting US President Donald Trump to arrive in Istanbul on Thursday. However, the sources said that they are “not entirely ruling out” the possibility of a visit by Trump in the coming days, particularly if his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin joins him in the country.
When asked about the agenda of the possible talks between Russia and Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied that “all the talking points are on the table.”
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov earlier said that Moscow wants to discuss “a sustainable settlement of the situation, first of all, by addressing the very roots of this conflict, resolving issues related to the denazification of the Kiev regime, ensuring recognition of the realities that have developed recently, including the entry of new territories into Russia.”
US President Donald Trump has told journalists aboard Air Force One that he could travel to Istanbul on Thursday in order to “end the war” and “save a lot of lives,” despite having a visit to the United Arab Emirates on his schedule.
When asked if Putin would be taking part in the negotiations, Trump replied by saying: “I do not know if he would be there if I am not there.”